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Sodexo, Zone Startups launch enterprise foodtech program
MUMBAI: Hospitality company Sodexo , in partnership with Zone Startups, has announced an Enterprise Foodtech Program—an initiative to work with Indian start-ups and closely connect with the local digital and innovation ecosystem to strengthen food offers for its clients and consumers. The program is an effort to extend Sodexo’s Open Innovation Program that is now focusing on Asia Pacific – India and China to explore market-leading innovations.
Sodexo On-Site Services India country president Rishi Gour said, “By associating with innovative start-ups, we aim to transform not only the perception of workplace cafeterias but also the way we operate and serve consumers. With start-ups offering innovative technologies and business models, we look forward to creating new services together and generate a differentiated experience for our consumer. It will allow us to reach consumers in a way we did not do before, create better connections and deliver better customer-centric services and experiences”.
The first cohort of the accelerator program under the partnership with Zone Startups in India is dedicated to identification of new technology and corporate food models, for which start-ups can apply through a dedicated website. Sodexo and Zone Startups will collaborate to identify, assess, test, and validate the most relevant start-ups to coach and run pilots within a Sodexo context.
The one-year program aims to bring new food experiences to Sodexo’s corporate clients and consumers. Overall, the partnership will help Sodexo India to closely work with local digital and innovative players in sourcing and accelerating new technologies and business models for Sodexo business offers.
Sodexo chief digital and innovation officer Belen Moscoso Del Prado said, “We are deploying local initiatives under a global strategy of moving closer to our consumers through such strategic partnerships and are therefore keen to work closely with Zone Startups on attracting partners with leading-edge technologies and emerging business models. We are sure that this partnership will bring new energy to Sodexo’s business in India, and even inspire innovation across other markets.”
Zone Startups India managing director Ajay Ramasubramaniam said, “We are pleased to partner with Sodexo to co-create this first of its kind open-innovation program in the enterprise food experience space. This program opens up collaborative avenues for start-ups working in emerging food services. Sodexo's global domain expertise and large consumer base is a strong ally for selected start-ups to attain scale at speed.”
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Reserve Bank of India cancels Paytm Payments Bank licence
Central bank cites compliance failures; curbs tighten as wind-up looms
MUMBAI: India’s banking watchdog delivered its sharpest blow yet to Paytm Payments Bank, cancelling its licence and effectively ending its ability to operate as a bank under the law.
The Reserve Bank of India said the entity can no longer conduct banking business under the Banking Regulation Act, citing concerns that its affairs were not being run in the interest of depositors or the public and that it had failed to meet licence conditions.
The move escalates a crackdown that has been building for months. The bank had already been barred from onboarding new customers since March 11, 2022, and later faced restrictions on deposits, credit and wallet top-ups. In January 2024, the central bank ordered it to stop accepting fresh deposits, pointing to persistent non-compliance, including lapses in customer due diligence, use of funds and technology systems.
Operationally, the bank is now on a tight leash. It may process withdrawals of existing deposits and facilitate loan referrals through banking correspondents, but it cannot take fresh deposits.
The central bank said it would apply to the high court to wind up the bank.
Paytm sought to ringfence the fallout. In a regulatory filing, it said the licence cancellation applies to Paytm Payments Bank Limited, a separate entity, and should not be attributed to One 97 Communications. It added that there is no exposure or material business arrangement with the bank and that it operates independently, without Paytm’s board or management involvement.
“As informed earlier, Paytm (One 97 Communications Limited) and its services, which have been operating without interruption, will continue to operate uninterrupted. These include the Paytm app, Paytm UPI, Paytm Gold and all other services offered by its subsidiaries and associated companies,” the company said.
The distinction may reassure users of the app ecosystem, but the regulator’s verdict is unequivocal. After years of warnings, caps and curbs, the payments bank experiment at Paytm is being shut down—decisively, and with little room left to manoeuvre.
